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Franklin County is to name a new elections director today, three months before it must open polls and count 800,000 votes expected in local and presidential races.

The front-runner is said to be Michael Stinziano, 28, a Democrat and son of longtime Ohio lawmaker Michael P. Stinziano.

Elections board members said they liked all three finalists, including current elections employees Todd Wedekind and Mary C. Hackett.

Stinziano, however, carries the endorsement of his current boss and the state's chief elections officer, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.

"What Stinziano would bring to the table is much better communication between our board of elections and the secretary of state's office, which is very important heading into a challenging, major election," said Dennis L. White, who is retiring as director of the elections board.

Brunner has referred the Franklin County board to the attorney general's office for a criminal investigation for alleged ballot irregularities. She's also clashed over policy with the board's Republican deputy director, Matt Damschroder.

A dozen people applied for the job as Franklin County's top elections official. The board interviewed the three finalists Monday and is to vote this afternoon on White's replacement.

"We're looking for experience in election affairs and knowledge of the working of electoral politics," said Board Chairman Doug Preisse, a Republican. Also key is "being involved in the community and the ability to get along with others."

Stinziano holds a law degree from Ohio State University. He has worked with county elections boards for Brunner's office since January 2007. He holds a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University.

He interned with the British House of Commons and was a law clerk for local elections-law expert Don McTigue.

"He's a quick study and did a good job," McTigue said. "Obviously, he would go into the job having a background in elections law."

That background, Brunner recently told The Dispatch, should count more than other management experience.

She said she hadn't talked with Franklin County elections board members about White's replacement, but she has urged boards of elections to eschew political cronyism and choose qualified leaders.

"It's my hope that they will find someone with sufficient election experience to be able to step in and hit the ground at least walking very fast," Brunner said.

Stinziano, who finishes his bar exam this morning, lives in the district his father represented for 22 years. He said he gets along "very much" with Brunner and is available to start work Friday.

Should the elections board split along party lines -- two members are Republicans and two are Democrats -- the secretary of state casts the deciding vote.

Hackett, manager of the precinct elections officials division, is the wife of Michael R. Hackett Jr., a former deputy director of the Franklin County Board of Elections. Michael Hackett pleaded guilty in January and received fines and probation for profiting from a contract to sell the elections board $785,000 worth of storage carts for voting machines. His wife had founded the cart company. She was not charged.

Wedekind is the board's manager of absentee voting.

Elections watchers say the new director will face a tough first few months preparing for a complicated election.

"There are lots of land mines out there, and someone who is not experienced in running local elections must very quickly educate themselves as to where those land mines are," said Dan Tokaji, an OSU law professor.

Peg Rosenfeld, elections specialist with the League of Women Voters of Ohio, said a new set of eyes before the election might help.

Her advice for the next director is simple: "Pray. The standard prayer for elections officials is, 'Dear Lord, let us have a landslide.' "